A workflow or, as the case may be, taskflow describes working sequences or, as the case may be, the processing sequence for different tasks. In the in the information technology (IT) field a template (model or predefined standard format) defines specific workflows or, as the case may be, taskflows which can be reused or repeated for different applications.
Medical tasks generally consist of three software units or layers: presentation logic (including for user interface visualization), business logic (working or processing logic) and remote services. If necessary the layers can be distributed in a flexible manner across machine or computer boundaries. In the case of tasks that are designed to be used by a plurality of workplaces the presentation logic is separated from the business logic such that only the presentation logic is installed on the clients (workplace computers) and the business logic is held and maintained centrally e.g. on a server. In the case of tasks that are used at image acquisition machines all the layers are used on the acquisition machine in order to maintain full functional capability in the event of a network failure and in non-networked environments such as e.g. small medical practices.
Individual tasks are interconnected to form taskflows. At the present time, however, the taskflow engines are not able or possibly able only with difficulty to work with tasks whose layers are distributed in different ways.